Guided Reading

1. Guided Reading By: Susan Robertson Literacy Coach Good Spirit School Division

2. T-Chart • What do we know or believe about Guided Reading? • What do we want to know or learn?

3. Guided Reading What it is ...... • -groups are flexible and temporary. • -students learn self-help strategies and independence. • -students are practicing reading strategies. • Students individually read and reread the text. • -the text is matched to the specific needs of the students. • -teacher focus is on the children and their literacy needs • -reading for meaning rakes a significant amount of lesson time. What it isn’t..... • -students remain in same groups for long periods. • -teaching of skills during group time • -teachers often help and may create dependence • -lesson focus on book, decoding words or telling the answer • -student usually read in “round robin” style. Text is read just once • -vocabulary introduced in isolation

4. Purpose of Guided Reading: -to provide students time to read at their instructional level -to allow students to be exposed to a variety of print materials -to move students along from easy to harder materials in a supportive environment -to be used as a time to monitor growth in students -for students to apply and practice reading comprehension strategies and self monitoring skills.

5. Forming Groups -similar reading levels -no more than 3 levels per group -groups are flexible and can change -groups determined by: teacher observation, previous year’s records, F and P reading assessment, observation. -maximum of 6 students -about 20 to 30 minutes in length

6. Reading Materials The students progress through levels. Not necessary to read all of the books at each level...varies with the groups, once group is proficient at a level...move on. Resources can include: Literacy Place, Nelson, Momentum, novel sets, anthologies (if levelled properly), magazines, poetry books, other print materials such as recipes, brochures etc. Levelling books: Go to our website to check out some levelling sites

7. Organizing the Lesson Introduction: -brief and focused -point out supports and challenges -activate background knowledge Children reading: -always set a PURPOSE for reading -children read silently or whisper read -teacher listens to one student at a time (provides support, encourages active problem solving, records observations) Conclusion: -brief focused -revisit purpose and strategy focus -mention strategies used -assess comprehension -reflection Rule of Thumb: About 5-7 minutes on Intro. And conclusion and 12-15 minutes on actual reading.

8. Lesson Templates There are a variety of templates that can be used to plan a guided reading lesson, but often teachers like to tailor these to individual needs.

9. Getting Started Before beginning guided reading teachers need to: -determine needs through common assessment (F and P) -determine guided reading groups -decide on focus strategies and skills for each group -choose appropriate text to support the strategy/skill at the appropriate reading level (instructional level) Grouping students: -small group (ideally no more than 6) -flexible -common reading level, specific strategy needs, and/or similar interests. Timing: -will generally occur daily -teacher may not meet with each group every day. -teachers will usually spend between 15 and 30 minutes per group Materials: -multiple copies of instructional level text -easel, chart paper, whiteboard, markers -logbook, notebook or folder for students -record book for teacher

10. What Are the “other” Students Doing? • Options: • -independent reading (read to self) • -independent writing • -word work (could be on computer (spellingcity.com), working with letter tiles etc. • buddy reading (read to someone) • -extension activities • -listening to reading • Students need to be “trained” to work independently at these stations. Time must be taken to model and practice behaviors and expectations.

11. Assessments -anecdotal notes on comprehension strategies used, decoding skills and other specific needs of the student -rubrics/checklists -running records (word recognition)

12. Questions ?

13. Professional Reading Here is a list of some professional resources that may help you with your GR planning. Guided Reading Basics (Pembroke, Stenhouse, 2003) Guided Readers and Writers (Fountas and Pinnel) Literacy Place Reading Guides (Scholastic) Guided Reading-Good First Teaching (Fountas and Pinnel)